Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was placed on the injured list Friday with lower back pain. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed left-hander Clayton Kershaw on the injured list Friday, one day after he left a start because of lower back pain.
This marks the 34-year-old Kershaw’s second trip to the injured list this season. He was previously sidelined because of inflammation in a pelvic joint.
Kershaw had an X-ray and an MRI on Friday, but Manager Dave Roberts didn’t know the results prior to Los Angeles’ game against San Diego.
“Hopefully it’s going to be shorter than longer,” Roberts said.
Roberts said he’s hesitant to give a time line until they have results of the MRI.
Kershaw’s previous back injury was on the right side, and this one is more on the left side, according to Roberts.
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner was warming up before the fifth inning of a 5-3 victory over San Francisco on Thursday when he winced and pointed to the Dodgers’ dugout. He eventually walked off the field with a trainer.
Kershaw, a nine-time All-Star, is 7-3 with a 2.64 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings.
Also Friday, the Dodgers activated utilityman Chris Taylor, who had missed a month because of a fractured left foot. He’s batting .238 with six homers and 27 RBI in 74 games.
The Dodgers also recalled right-hander Reyes Moronta and optioned outfielder James Outman.
Dustin May, who had Tommy John surgery last year, is trending toward a return soon and could be a candidate to fill Kershaw’s spot in the rotation. May has another rehab start Tuesday in Triple-A Oklahoma City.
“The world will look different then,” Roberts said. “Then we’ll make a decision on whether he should make another one, which is most likely, so now you’re looking at somebody in our system to make that (next start). (Ryan) Pepiot certainly makes sense.”
ASTROS: Manager Dusty Baker tested positive for COVID-19 prior to Friday night’s game against the Cleveland Guardians.
Baker held his usual pregame availability with the media about two hours before the 7:10 p.m. game. The announcement of the positive test came after the game started.
REDS: Rookie right-hander Hunter Greene was placed on the 15-day injured list because of a strained right shoulder.
Greene, who turns 23 on Saturday, seemed to be turning the corner in his young career over the last month, posting a 2.70 ERA over his last four starts with 29 strikeouts and eight walks over 23 1/3 innings. He turned in a gem his last time out, holding the Marlins to one hit while striking out eight without walking a batter over six scoreless innings.
PADRES: Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A San Antonio either Saturday or Sunday, San Diego Padres Manager Bob Melvin said.
Tatis took batting practice with the Padres at Dodger Stadium on Friday afternoon and then left for Texas. Tatis has been sidelined since having surgery in mid-March on his fractured left wrist, reportedly suffered in an offseason motorcycle accident in his native Dominican Republic.
TIGERS: Detroit star Miguel Cabrera clarified his position on retirement, saying he plans to play in 2023.
“I’m not going to retire,” he told the Detroit News. “Not until next year after my contract is done. They didn’t understand what I said. No way am I going to quit.”
Cabrera, who has been troubled by knee problems the last several years, was hitting .308 on July 6 and had joined the 500-homer, 3,000-hit club.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
CUBS 2, MARLINS 1: Willson Contreras hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, Justin Steele matched a career high with 10 strikeouts and Chicago won at home.
The Cubs looked like they were on the way to their sixth straight loss before Contreras drove an 0-1 pitch from Dylan Floro (0-1) to left with one out in the eighth for his 16th homer, waking up a sleepy crowd.
Chicago’s only hits to that point were singles by Nick Madrigal leading off the sixth and eighth. Happ also doubled in the eighth.
Steele went 4 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and walking one while throwing 93 pitches. Rowan Wick (3-5) got the final four outs.
The home run by Contreras punctuated an emotional stretch that included a standing ovation during the previous home game on July 26.
PHILLIES 7, NATIONALS 2: Kyle Gibson retired his first 18 batters and pitched one-run ball over eight innings, Kyle Schwarber hit his NL-leading 34th homer and Philadelphia won at home.
Rhys Hoskins, J.T. Realmuto, Nick Castellanos and Darick Hall also homered for the Phillies, who have won eight of nine to solidify their standing in the race for the NL’s third and final wild-card position. The victory moved Philadelphia 10 games over .500 for the first time since they were 37-27 on June 8, 2019.
ASTROS 9, GUARDIANS 3: Trey Mancini hit two home runs, including his first career grand slam, and drove in five runs, leading Houston to a win in Cleveland.
Mancini, acquired from Baltimore on Monday to bolster Houston’s already dynamic lineup, hit a solo homer in the second and capped the Astros’ five-run third with a blast that cleared the 19-foot wall in left field and landed in the home run porch.
WHITE SOX 2, RANGERS 1: Dylan Cease pitched six strong innings, Eloy Jimenez hit a tiebreaking solo home run and Chicago beat Texas in Arlington, Texas.
The first start in August for Cease (12-4) resembled those of the past eight weeks, when he was selected the AL pitcher of the month for June and July. He gave up a run and two hits to lower his earned run average to 1.98, second in the AL, and won his fifth straight start.
RAYS 5, TIGERS 3: Brandon Lowe hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning for Tampa Bay, who walked a franchise-record 13 times while rallying win in Detroit.
Three of the walks came in Tampa Bay’s three-run eighth. The Rays trailed 3-0 after two innings before coming back to win their third straight game.
The Rays had walked 12 times in an 11-inning win over the Marlins on June 19, 2010, and had walked 11 times in several nine-inning games.
BRAVES 9, METS 6: Ronald Acuña Jr. got four hits and robbed Pete Alonso of a two-run homer as Atlanta built a big early lead and won in New York to rebound quickly in its NL East showdown.
Eddie Rosario hit a three-run homer in the first inning and an RBI double in the second to help the Braves open an 8-0 cushion. Rookie center fielder Michael Harris II also went deep and threw out a runner at the plate.
William Contreras added a solo homer in the ninth, and the Braves avoided their first three-game losing streak of the year. The last team to go this deep into a season without a three-game skid was the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who set the major league mark by not losing three in a row until a four-game slide from games Nos. 147-150, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
CARDINALS 4, YANKEES 3: Paul DeJong hit a two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning, lifting the Cardinals over New York in Matt Carpenter’s return to St. Louis.
Carpenter drew a standing ovation in his first visit back to the city where he played 11 seasons, then had two hits. Aaron Judge and Josh Donaldson also had two hits each for the Yankees, and Donaldson drove in two while New York built a 3-2 lead.
The Cardinals erased that in the eighth. Nolan Arenado hit a one-out single, and Tyler O’Nell worked a two-out walk on a full count.
DeJong, playing his sixth game since being recalled from Triple-A, doubled to right against All-Star Clay Holmes (5-3) to score both runners.
TWINS 6, BLUE JAYS 5: Nick Gordon hit a three-run homer and scored in the 10th inning for Minnesota after a pair of miscues by Toronto catcher Danny Jansen, giving the Twins a win at home over the Blue Jays on Friday night.
Gordon, who had three hits in the game, was the automatic runner to start the bottom of the 10th. Jordan Romano (3-3) struck out Jake Cave on a low slider that got past Jansen, who threw wildly to first, allowing Cave to reach and moving Gordon to third. Tim Beckham hit a grounder to third baseman Matt Chapman, who threw home to get Gordon trying to score.
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